hey guys..

My system is a hp machine running windows xp (sp2) and i was having problem with a missing file so had to boot my machine into the built in HP system recovery by tapping f12 at startup.. this seemed to go very well i answered all the correct prompts i went through the Non destructive system restore so my documents and files would be intact when this was completed. everything went well but when rebooting my system up instead of hitting my usual login screen where i would put my password in it skipped and went to the desktop. i was puzzled as my files were nowhere to be seen. however on further inspection i checked the hard drive volume and there is 24GB of used up space which seems to be my files but i cant find them.. it hasnt created a seperate login account.. how can i recover my files from somewhere on the disk??

please help

thanks

Did you already have a look here chunny?

Troubleshooting steps for issues when you try to use the System Restore tool in Windows XP

hey it wasnt the system restore utility that was built into windows its the HP (hewlett packard) built in system restore..

Ok sorry

Did you look here?

HP and Compaq Desktop PCs -  Performing an HP System Recovery in Windows XP 

yes this is simply a resource explaining the process ect.. im not having a problem with the system restore just a problem as a result of using it.. like i explained the files and documents from before the non destructive system restore appear to be located somewhere hidden on my hard drive. i cannot figure out how to recover them , or access them
thanks